What happens when an evil man is interviewed by a know-nothing
interviewer from a corrupt and decadent faux news agency?

You need someone like me to sort out the sublime (not much of that)
to the ridiculous.

So that’s what we’re going to do. Decipher and decode the Huffington
Post’s Q&A with the insufferable Jimmy Carter.

Asked by HuffPost senior religion editor Paul Brandeis about
Creation, Carter said: “I happen to have an advantage there because I
am a nuclear physicist by training and a deeply committed Christian.
I don’t have any doubt in my own mind about God who created the
entire universe. But I don’t adhere to passages that so and so was
created 4,000 years before Christ, and things of that kind. Today we
have shown that the earth and the stars were created millions, even
billions, of years before. We are exploring space and sub-atomic
particles and learning new facts every day, facts that the Creator
has known since the beginning of time.”

Well, wait a minute! Was it millions of years ago or billions?
There’s a big difference between the two. Why so imprecise? That
doesn’t sound like a nuclear physicist talking. Just how old is the
Earth? And if the Creator has known all this from the beginning of
time, why would He inspire the authors of the Bible to get it wrong?

Asked about homosexuality and the Bible, Carter had this to
say: “Homosexuality was well-known in the ancient world, well before
Christ was born, and Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In
all of his teachings about multiple things – he never said that gay
people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for
gay people to be married in civil ceremonies.”

Wait a minute! Isn’t Jesus God? And didn’t God inspire the Bible?
Just because Jesus isn’t quoted in red letters in the Bible
discussing homosexuality, does that mean He never addressed it?
Doesn’t it suggest, on the contrary, that Jesus didn’t dispute the
law of the Bible? In fact, wouldn’t His atoning sacrifice on the
cross be rendered ineffective if He didn’t uphold the law in its
entirety? Does Jimmy Carter believe there is disagreement within the
Trinity on homosexuality?

Here’s what the Bible says about homosexuality with no ambiguity:

-Leviticus 18:22: “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with
womankind: it is abomination.”

-Romans 1:24-28: “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies
between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is
blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile
affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that
which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the
natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another;
men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in
themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;”

Of course Jesus never said “gay people should be condemned.” In fact,
I don’t know anyone who says that. What most Bible-believers say is
that homosexuals should turn away from their sin – just like
adulterers, fornicators and liars should. Further, Jesus does talk
very specifically about marriage – and he affirms what it is supposed
to be in God’s economy: an institution between one man and one woman
for life (Mark 10:7-9).

Carter continues: “I draw the line, maybe arbitrarily, in requiring
by law that churches must marry people. I’m a Baptist, and I believe
that each congregation is autonomous and can govern its own affairs.
So if a local Baptist church wants to accept gay members on an equal
basis, which my church does by the way, then that is fine. If a
church decides not to, then government laws shouldn’t require them
to.”

Arbitrarily? Has Carter ever read the First Amendment? And what about
the Bible-believing civil judge? Should he or she be forced to
violate his or her own moral principles by being forced to
participate in sin?

Question: “Jesus says I am the way the truth and the life (John
14:6). How can you remain true to an exclusivist faith claim while
respecting other faith traditions?”

Carter: “Jesus also taught that we should not judge other people
(Matthew 7:1), and that it is God who judges people, so I am willing
to let God make those judgments, in the ultimate time whenever it
might come. I think ‘judge not that you be not judged’ is the best
advice that I will follow. Maybe it is a rationalization, but it
creates a lack of tension in my mind about that potential conflict.
There are many verses in the Bible that you could interpret very
rigidly and that makes you ultimately into a fundamentalist. When you
think you are better than anybody else – that you are closer to God
than other people, and therefore they are inferior to you and
subhuman – that leads to conflict and hatred and dissonance among
people when we should be working for peace.”

But that’s not what Christians are commanded to do by Jesus. We are
commanded to spread the gospel for the salvation of many. I know this
hasn’t been a big part of Jimmy Carter’s life. But it remains the
unequivocal, central role of the Christian in the world. We’re not
supposed to just live and let live – because to do that actually
means death for those we don’t confront with their sin and the
salvation message.

Question: “There is a scripture passage attributed to Jesus, ‘Do not
think that I came to bring peace on earth, I did not come to bring
peace but a sword’ (Matthew: 10:34). How do you interpret that, in
light of your basic belief in Jesus as the Prince of Peace?”

Carter: “For the last 35 or more years, my wife and I have read the
Bible last thing every night and just last week we read that passage
and discussed it a little bit. What Christ was saying was that when
we have conflict in our mind or hearts, between our secular duties
and teachings of Christ, we should put the teachings of Christ first.

“He was predicting what would happen, that his teachings might cause
divisions among people as they decided to follow God’s ordained
duties such as peace, humility, service to others, alleviation of
suffering, forgiveness – when we face those conflicts, we should
adhere to the principles that never change, to the moral values that
are taught through religion.”

This man was permitted to teach Bible classes in a Southern Baptist
church? He has admitted he doesn’t even believe in marriage as it is
defined in the Bible, yet suggests “we should adhere to the
principles that never change, to the moral values that are taught
through religion.” Very confusing reasoning here. By the way,
the “sword of the Lord” is truth – the Word of God. Though Jesus will
return someday soon wielding a different kind of sword.

Question: “Should we approach the Bible literally, or metaphorically?”

Carter: “When we go to the Bible we should keep in mind that the
basic principles of the Bible are taught by God, but written down by
human beings deprived of modern-day knowledge. So there is some
fallibility in the writings of the Bible. But the basic principles
are applicable to my life, and I don’t find any conflict among them.

“The example that I set in my private life is to emulate what Christ
did as he faced people who were despised like the lepers or the
Samaritans. He reached out to them, he reached out to poor people, he
reached out to people that were not Jews and treated them equally.
The more despised and the more in need they were, the more he
emphasized that we should go to and share with them our talent our
ability, our wealth, our influence. Those are the things that guide
my life, and when I find a verse in the Bible that contradicts those
things that I just described to you, I put into practice the things
that I derive from my faith in Christ.”

I love this answer because there’s actually some truth in what he
says about himself. Carter, too, reaches out to people who are not
Jews and treats them equally. However, he is one of the most
repugnant anti-Semites on the face of the earth – so he’s not quite
so accommodating to Jews.

This is why I call Jimmy Carter a truly evil person. He still tries
to masquerade as a Christian, though his views are increasingly
heretical if not those of an apostate.

Jesus says when judgment day comes, there will be some He turns away,
even though they claim to have prophesied in His name.